Jackets Cruise

For the second year in a row, coach David Simpkins could see his first playoff victory getting away from him Thursday night.

But the St. Augustine boys basketball coach was suddenly rewarded for weathering the anxiety when his super subs changed the course of the game and sent the Yellow Jackets into the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.

SAHS (17-11) is moving on after a 56-42 home victory over Inverness Citrus that sets up a Tuesday night home game with top-ranked Lecanto. It was a nice turnaround for SAHS, which lost to Lecanto last year in the opening round, 80-77, in overtime.

Thursday was the first playoff victory in the history of the high school. St. Augustine's Ketterlinus High School won a playoff game in 1947, a 39-27 win over Apopka.

It probably wouldn't have happened without the lift provided by substitutes Darryl Lee and Antonio Beckley in the second half. The two combined to score 13 points in the last seconds of the third quarter and the fourth quarter.

"I'm like the energy of the team," said Lee, who scored eight points and added five steals. "My teammates trust me."

Lee played a few minutes in the first half, but he really made his presence felt late in the game. He entered with about two minutes to play in the third quarter and helped stave off a Citrus rally.

The Hurricanes, which trailed from the 4:35 mark of the first quarter on, cut the SAHS lead to 35-31 on a follow by Andy Rouse with 1:48 to go in the third period. They had the ball with a chance to cut into the deficit more, but Lee took a charge from Citrus center Craig Augustine with 20 seconds left.

At the other end, Lee tipped in a SAHS miss just before the quarter ended to put the Jackets in front 37-31.

Then it was Beckley's turn to star. He converted a three-point play and then added another basket in the lane to extend the Jackets' lead to 42-31 with six minutes to play. The game was never closer than six the rest of the way.

"Those two guys were very critical in helping us win this game," Simpkins said of Lee and Beckley.

Kawaun Jakes led SAHS with 18 points, and he was quick to acknowledge the play of the Jackets' subs.

"Our bench, they stayed in it and helped us out," Jakes said. "I think we've got a lot of depth on the bench. They're really good."

Simpkins didn't substitute as much as usual because the pace of the game was slower than what the Jackets normally play. That was the plan for Citrus, which couldn't match SAHS' athletes but had a big height advantage in the post.

SAHS nearly made that edge moot as it raced out to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter. But Citrus slowly worked itself back into the game, getting baskets in the paint from Augustine (10 points) and Rouse (14 points). Citrus was within three points in the second quarter, but the Hurricanes never got closer than that the rest of the way.

"We didn't want to get into an up-and-down game," Citrus coach Tom Densmore said. "When we played the game at our pace, we kept it close."

But getting close was the best Citrus could do, even on a night when the Jackets didn't make a lot of shots, including going 10-of-20 from the free throw line.

"This game really is about homecourt advantage," Simpkins said. "That's what winning the district does for you.

"I'm very happy with how the kids dug in and took advantage of the opportunity they had."